August 14, 2021

How Black Holes Eat Reveals Their Mass (Source: Sky & Telescope)
No one knows why quasars flicker. Yet these wavering beacons of light might be sending us a message about the black hole systems that power them. Astronomers are actively working to understand why black hole disks behave the way they do. But even if we don’t fully understand the mechanism behind the flickering, we can still use it to understand the systems themselves.

Mass is one of only two descriptors of black holes (the other being spin) — they are otherwise the ultimate black box. Yet supermassive black holes are difficult to heave onto a scale. Astronomers can measure the stars or gas in the galactic center to directly “weigh” the central black hole, but this method only works for nearby specimens (most notably our own 4 million-solar-mass behemoth, Sgr A*). Other more indirect mass measures involve timing light coming from the disk as it “echoes” off nearby clouds, or even more indirectly, determining the mass based on relationships with properties of the host galaxy.

Finding a new method to determine black hole mass would be a big win, and previous studies hinted that variability might be the way to do it. So Burke’s team analyzed 67 quasars to determine on what timescales — days, weeks, months, or years — their random brightness changes become noticeably smaller. The researchers then compared that damping timescale to the black holes’ previously measured masses (using one of those other means mentioned above). (8/13)

A $500 Million Spacesuit? Welcome to NASA Contracting (Source: Bloomberg)
What’s the cost of a good suit these days? At NASA, apparently, it’s about $500 million. That’s according to a new audit of the space agency’s 14-year quest to design and build a new generation of spacesuits. Without major changes to the program, the new duds will take at least four more years to produce, thereby jeopardizing NASA’s plan to return to the moon by 2024.

NASA has tended to see its spending focused in the districts of influential legislators, who have shown great skill in keeping the agency’s programs funded. The downside to this is that it tends to erode accountability, inflate costs and prolong programs that have little scientific justification. A notable example is the Space Launch System, a massive rocket initiated by Congress in 2011. A decade into development, it’s billions over budget and years overdue. Thanks to political patrons, however, it just keeps going.

The spacesuit program has suffered from similar problems. Congress funded it with the idea that NASA would serve as the chief designer and integrator, while contractors would take care of the parts. There are now 27 of them working on the suit program. Elon Musk tweeted "Seems like too many cooks in the kitchen" and suggested that SpaceX could simply design and build an alternative suit “if need be.” (8/13)

Someone Show NASA a Calendar (Source: The Atlantic)
NASA has said it’s going to make it to the moon in 2024. That’s simply not possible. Sure, NASA has landed astronauts on the moon before, six times in fact, and it got them there using technology with less raw computational power than a smartphone. The agency isn’t starting from scratch. But NASA’s current budget for moon missions is meager compared with the amount the U.S. government spent on the Apollo program, and the government isn’t rushing to beat a rival superpower to a momentous first in human history.

According to the inspector general’s latest report—which concluded that those spacesuits won’t be ready until at least April 2025—NASA’s vision for a moon landing in 2024, as it stands now, is not just difficult or unlikely, but simply “not feasible.” Other government reports have said the same for months, even before President Joe Biden took office and appointed Nelson as administrator. (8/13)

Intuitive Machines Adds Third Mission Following First Lunar Landings in 2022 (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Intuitive Machines (IM) has selected SpaceX to launch their third mission to the Moon. Named IM-3, the company’s Nova-C lander will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 currently targeted for the first quarter of 2024 following two Nova-C missions in 2022. Overall, IM is one of four Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) providers preparing for robotic Moon landings as part of NASA’s Artemis program — though IM-3 is not associated with CLPS. The Artemis missions will carry scientific payloads for both NASA and other commercial customers starting in 2022 in order to prepare for crewed landings. (8/13)

New Space-Themed Eatery Soars Into Epcot for Disney’s 50th Anniversary (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A new, space-themed restaurant is slated to open next month at Walt Disney World, according to the official Disney Parks Blog. Space 220 restaurant will begin service in mid-September at Epcot as part of the resort’s 50th-anniversary celebration. This fine dining experience will be located next to the Mission: Space attraction. Guests will check into the Space 220 Departure Lounge in Future World and will then board one of two “space elevators” that transport them to what seems like 220 miles above Earth to Centauri Space Station. As the elevator climbs, Epcot shrinks away and the space station comes into view. (8/13)

Starliner to De-Stack From Atlas for Fix, New Launch Date TBD (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
John Vollmer, vice president and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, said they have a likely culprit for why the valves remained stuck, and it has to do with corrosive byproducts created when a substance in place that’s supposed to be there mixes with moisture, which is not supposed to be there. Even though the team was able to unstick most of the valves, Vollmer said the team had to make the decision to bring the spacecraft back and get to the root of the problem.

“We made the decision that we were just out of runway and we had to come back to the factory,” he said. Whether the fix is to replace the valves or find a solution on the existing ones will have to wait until Boeing and NASA get the spacecraft back to the factory located at Kennedy Space Center next to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Because of the planetary Lucy mission on tap for October to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Station, and its use of the Vertical Integration Facility, Boeing will have to wait until at least November before it could have another shot at a launch attempt. And even then, there are other missions to the ISS that could force it to push into 2022. “Probably too early to say when,” Vollmer said. “If we can fly this year, that would be fantastic, but at this point that would be too much to speculate.” (8/13)

Astra Posts First Financial Report Since Going Public (Source: Via Satellite)
Smallsat launcher Astra reported its first set of financial results since going public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger on July 1. The company released its second-quarter 2021 results on Thursday. Astra reported a GAAP net loss of $31.3 in the second quarter, and spent $10.5 million on R&D expenses, $18 million on general and administrative expenses, and $1.1 million on sales and marketing during the three-month period.

Astra also released its financial guidance for its third quarter . The launcher expects: Adjusted EBITDA between $32  million and $35.0 million; depreciation and amortization between $1.0 million and $1.3 million; and capital expenditures between $10.0 million and $15.0 million by the end of the three-month period on September 30. (8/13)

Here’s What the Space Force’s No. 2 Officer Learned From Having COVID-19 (Source: Air Force Times)
Nearly a year after contracting the coronavirus, Gen. David “DT” Thompson has a warning for his fellow Americans: don’t gamble with your health. Thompson, who as the Space Force’s vice chief of space operations is the second highest-ranking officer in the newest military branch, tested positive for the coronavirus on Oct. 28, 2020 after coming into close contact with an infected family member.

He became the third senior military official with a confirmed case of COVID-19 so far in the pandemic, after former Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm. Charles Ray and Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Gary Thomas. He returned to work at the Pentagon Nov. 9, 2020 after an 11-day quarantine at home. But it’s not what did happen during Thompson’s own bout of COVID-19 that left an impression on the four-star general: it’s the bullet he dodged, and his first-hand knowledge of how the virus continues to affect the military. (8/13)

Richard Branson Reduces Stake in Virgin Galactic (Sources: Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail)
Richard Branson has sold around $300 million worth of shares in Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. to raise money for other parts of his pandemic-battered global business, further whittling down his stake in the space tourism company that he founded. The British billionaire’s Virgin Group said on Friday that it sold 10,416,000 shares on Thursday, in a sale that reduces the stake to 18%.

Virgin's parent company said that they wanted to focus on leisure and tourism business that had been impacted by COVID. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from equal weight to underweight this week. Analysts said a lack of planned space flights was part of the skepticism. The company's share price fell 20% on Friday. (8/13)

Are Bezos and Musk Launching a New Space Age — or Just a U.S. Space Grab? (Source: AlterNet)
Behind this apparent show of rich kids playing with their expensive space toys, there are bigger forces at play—namely, that big capital is entering spaceflight, hitherto the exclusive domain of nation-states. While it appears that three men with deep pockets are funding their respective space ventures, the reality is that it is the U.S. taxpayers who are funding these space efforts. In this new space age, the U.S. is also proposing to ride roughshod over the space agreements that space is a "global commons."

The U.S. would like to convert space into its "final frontier," under the premise that space belongs to any country that can mine its riches. The other disturbing aspect of the new space age ushered in by the space billionaires is the U.S. policy of grabbing space for its private companies. This violates the Outer Space Treaty. The U.S. position is that whether or not outer space is a global commons, its commercial exploitation is open to all. This is a position the U.S. had on seabed mining in international waters as well.

Such a policy privileges the powerful and technologically advanced states and is another way of blocking the essence of the global commons. Behind this hype of a new space age is the reality of a new space grab. This is what Bezos and Musk represent: a new space age in which the billionaires can leave this world they are destroying in the hope of discovering new lands to conquer and again destroy. (8/13)

Could Billionaires in Space Bring Science Back to the Moon? (Source: Baltimore Sun)
What, then, is NASA’s purpose in low-earth orbit? Very little, it seems, aside from maintaining its own satellites placed there by commercial rockets. The ISS may provide a certain element of awesomeness for some. But it has outlived its purpose. And at $150 billion to build and at least $4 billion annually to maintain, the ISS has been and continues to be a strain on the NASA budget. Why not hand over the ISS to commercial interests and apply that annual budget to a permanent Moon base?

There is much work needed on the Moon to enable — decades from now — commercial mining, lunar tourism and other activities. We could start today with international bases modeled after what we have in Antarctica, where rotating scientists and engineers venture for a few months per year, and a separate hardy crew will overwinter and spend a year or two. We could conduct science on the Moon that is far more practical than that we perform on the ISS, namely the effect of low gravity on human health. The Moon would provide practice for visiting Mars, as well.

The billionaires and their companies — Mr. Branson’s Virgin Galactic, Mr. Bezos’ Blue Origin and Tesla founder Elon Musk’s SpaceX — have demonstrated that near space is firmly within reach of commercial enterprise. It just might be the nudge NASA and its international partners needed to get out of the International Space Station and onto the Moon. (8/13)

University of North Dakota Picked for Space Force Partnership (Source: Sen. John Hoeven)
The University of North Dakota was selected as the first participant in the Space Force’s University Partnership Program (UPP) Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) says this will position North Dakota to train the next generation of scientists, while also leading in cutting-edge research projects and serving as a hub of space technology development. Through the UPP, the Space Force will work with UND and its other partners to recruit, educate, develop and retain a highly-skilled, technically-competent workforce. The program provides the opportunity for joint educational and research activities for the university and its students. (8/9)

Park Service Pushes Back Against Licensing Georgia Spaceport (Source: AP)
The National Park Service is pushing back after an FAA report recommended approval of a spaceport on the Georgia coast, saying a chance of explosive misfires over a federally protected island popular with tourists and campers poses an “unacceptable risk.” The Park Service and its parent agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior, are disputing the FAA’s conclusion that the spaceport poses minimal risks or adverse impacts to Cumberland Island, a federally protected wilderness that draws about 60,000 visitors each year.

In a July 22 letter to the FAA, the Interior Department said the final study on the spaceport’s impacts noted that a failed launch could result in “fires, explosions, or releases of propellants or other hazardous materials.” The letter says the FAA failed to look closely at potential risks to Cumberland Island, which lies along the proposed flight path for rockets 5 miles east of the launch site. The Interior Department letter said there was no documentation to show the Park Service was consulted.

The letter, signed by Laura Fleming of the Interior Department’s Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, says a spaceport safety briefing the FAA gave in December “provided insufficient information for our needs...We require an in-depth understanding of the extent of what a worst-case scenario might include.” It’s not clear how the FAA, which is responsible for licensing U.S. commercial rocket launch sites, will respond. (8/13)

NASA Stands by its Astronaut After Incendiary Russian Claims (Source: Ars Technica)
On Friday afternoon, NASA pushed back on personal attacks made by Russia's state-owned news service against NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor. "NASA astronauts, including Serena Auñón-Chancellor, are extremely well-respected, serve their country, and make invaluable contributions to the agency," said Kathy Lueders. "We stand behind Serena and her professional conduct. We do not believe there is any credibility to these accusations."

Shortly after Lueders tweeted this statement, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson concurred. "I whole-heartedly agree with Kathy’s statement," he said. "I fully support Serena and I will always stand behind our astronauts." There have long been rumors in lower-level Russian media outlets blaming US astronauts for the hole in a Soyuz spacecraft that caused the space station leak in 2018. But the TASS report was the first to name Auñón-Chancellor, to disclose a private medical condition, and then to make the incendiary claim that this condition led her to sabotage the space station. (8/13)

NASA Mulls How to Dispose of International Space Station (Source: UPI)
A plan to use a Russian spacecraft to deorbit the International Space Station as early as 2028 remains in question because the United States does not know Russia's intentions for using the orbiting laboratory, NASA and other parties involved in the decision say. A NASA safety panel approved a plan in 2019 that relies on Russia to modify and launch a Progress spacecraft to guide the structure into the atmosphere, where most of it would melt and the rest break up over the Pacific Ocean.

But Russia's agreement with space station partners -- including Europe, Japan and Canada -- ends in 2024, and Russian state media reported in April that the nation's deputy prime minister, Yuri Borisov, said it might abandon it by 2025. Uncertainty over future Russian participation -- and developing its own space station -- has led to a non-committal stance by NASA, pending more clarity about the deorbit plan and whether Russia still will carry out the job.

Chester said the deorbiting mission would be "shared by the ISS partnership and is negotiation-sensitive at this time." In the meantime, NASA's cost to run the space station has grown to $3 billion to $4 billion annually. Those familiar with previous negotiations said Russia most likely is posturing to have NASA bear more of the costs for deorbiting the space laboratory. (8/12)